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But she immediately shut that thought down. As much as she was into him, she wasn’t going to have a one-night stand.

Was that what this was? He thought she was desperate enough to sleep with him? He needed to get his rocks off before the flight trials?

“I’m not sleeping with you,” she blurted.

Tate didn’t seem offended in the least by the question. “Okay.”

“Okay?”

“Yeah. That’s not why I’m here. Not that I’m opposed…but again, that’s not why I came over.”

She was still in the dark about why he had come over, but now she couldn’t think about anything other than him saying that he wasn’t opposed to sleeping with her. What would he do if she jumped him right now? Just threw herself at him and tore his flight suit off? The image made her lips twitch.

“Something funny?” he asked with a quirk of an eyebrow.

Laryn shook her head almost furiously. “Nope. Nothing. Not at all. I’m just going to…” She gestured down the hallway with her thumb. “You know.”

He grinned. “All right.”

“Yeah.”

“Anything you don’t like on your sandwiches?” he asked, as she began to back away from him.

“Pineapple.”

He grimaced. “Gross. Is this a good time to discuss pineapple on pizza?”

Laryn shrugged. “Depends on which side of that argument you’re on.”

He grinned at her. “Go,” he ordered with a chin lift toward the hallway.

Damn, that was sexy. Laryn turned to head to her room and realized she was smiling.

That wasn’t something that happened a lot after she spoke with Tate.

He usually annoyed her or treated her as if she was his little sister or something.

She wasn’t getting little sister vibes from him right now though.

She decided that she didn’t care why he was there, just that he was. It was possible she was still dreaming, and if that was the case, she never wanted to wake up. Because if she thought she’d liked the Tate Davis she knew from before, it was nothing compared to how much she liked this Tate Davis.

Casper watched Laryn walk away from him and, as usual, his gaze was drawn to her ass. How her coveralls could be baggy as hell everywhere but her ass, he had no idea. But he liked it a hell of a lot.

His heart was still beating hard from her casual comment about sex. He was appalled that she thought he’d shown up for a booty call, but he wasn’t lying when he’d said he wasn’t opposed to having sex with her.

Laryn Hardy was sexy as hell. He hadn’t realized he was attracted to her until recently, and now he couldn’t think of much else.

She was rough around the edges, she didn’t back down when she was challenged, she liked to be in charge, took no shit from anyone, wasn’t afraid of hard work, and…

Hell. She was a lot like him . And the opposite of most women who hit on him.

Turning, Casper headed for her small kitchen.

It was nothing special, linoleum countertops, cheap appliances, no dishwasher…

it felt like he was in his own kitchen. Except when he opened her fridge, she didn’t have nearly the amount of food he did.

She did have some sliced deli meat and cheese though.

He pulled them out, along with some mayo and mustard, not sure which she’d prefer.

There was also a package of bagels on the counter, which he used as bread.

It didn’t take long to put together the sandwiches, and while he waited for Laryn, he used the time to look around her living room.

She had a couch that had seen better days but looked comfortable.

There was a blanket hanging off the cushions, as if she’d thrown it off when she’d gotten up to answer the door.

The rest of the room consisted of an oversized, beat-up leather chair off to one side, wide enough to fit two people; a medium-size TV; and a bookcase filled to the brim with books—at a closer look, they were a mix of history, romance, dirt racing manuals, and of course, several how-to books on engines.

Some were old, tattered and torn, and others looked pristine.

Her bookshelf was a lot like the woman herself… eclectic.

There was a picture of who Casper figured had to be Laryn as a child, standing in front of an old Chevy Camaro on a dirt track with her arm around an older guy. They were both beaming, and Casper could see the resemblance between the girl and the man.

“That’s me and my old man when I was around nine. That’s the car we built from scratch, and my dad’s old buddy drove it in the dirt track race in our town. I was so proud.”

“As you should’ve been,” Casper began as he turned around. Whatever else he was going to say got stuck in his throat as he stared at the woman before him. If he hadn’t seen for himself that Laryn hadn’t left the apartment, he wouldn’t have recognized her.

The woman standing there looked nothing like the mechanic he’d gotten so used to seeing.

For one, her hair was down. Casper couldn’t remember a time he’d ever seen Laryn with her hair down.

And it was beautiful. Dark brown with light brown highlights, long enough to touch her upper chest. It was still damp from her shower, and it took every ounce of control Casper had not to reach out and run his fingers through the silky-looking strands.

And she smelled…delicious. That was the only way to put it.

Not that he’d ever really noticed how she’d smelled before.

Probably because he was so used to the scents of the hangar and the choppers she worked on.

Oil, grease, sweat. But now she literally sm elled like cookies.

Maybe cake. Vanilla. It made his mouth water.

And the body he’d wondered about was no longer hidden by the coveralls she always wore. She had on a pair of sweatpants and a T-shirt, both hugging her curves…and what curves they were.

He was right. Laryn was curvy as hell—and he’d never seen anything sexier.

“What? Do I have something on my face?” she asked self-consciously.

“No,” Casper said. “I was just thinking that I haven’t seen you in anything but your coveralls…like…ever.”

“That’s not true,” she protested.

Casper shrugged. He was still trying to get his mind to work properly. This woman…she was like Clark Kent. Or Diana Prince. Hiding in plain sight. This was her superhero form.

“You grew up working on cars?” he blurted, desperately trying to keep himself from saying something stupid. His brain wasn’t firing on all cylinders.

“Yeah,” she said, sounding happy. “Loved it. My dad taught me everything he knew. Took me to the track every weekend. He said I took to it like a duck to water. He was so proud of me when I got a few certificates from the community college in their automotive technology program when I was still in high school.”

“I bet he’s super proud of you today,” Casper said.

“He died when I was nineteen,” Laryn said matter-of-factly.

“Oh, shit. I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be. I mean, it sucks, but he was always proud of me. I was Daddy’s little girl and could do no wrong.”

“I bet you were two peas in a pod,” he guessed.

“We were.” Laryn smiled at him, before her stomach suddenly let out a loud growl.

Her hand immediately went to her belly, and Casper couldn’t help but look down at where she was touching herself. He could see the small swell under her hand, and it took every ounce of control he had not to pull her hand away and replace it with his own.

It was almost alarming how much he wanted this woman.

Why now? What had changed? He wasn’t sure.

Except for the look of concern she’d let slip on that naval ship, after returning with his brother and the others when his chopper had crashed.

He’d seen her true emotions for the first time, and he’d been intrigued.

And now, here he was, desperately wanting to know everything about Laryn.

“I wasn’t sure if you wanted mustard or mayonnaise on your sandwich,” he told her as he turned away, stepping toward the kitchen, more so that she didn’t see the erection in his flight suit than truly wanting to end their conversation.

“Both,” she said, stepping past him.

Once again, her clean, sweet smell wafted up to his nose, making Casper want to lean in and sniff her neck.

Truthfully, he wanted to do more than that, but the thoughts he was having about his mechanic were kind of freaking him out with their sudden urgency.

So he kept his distance as she squirted a healthy amount of condiments on the top half of her bagel, then picked up the sandwich and took a huge bite right where they stood in the kitchen.

It was something else they had in common.

Casper didn’t sit to eat much. He was too used to eating on the go.

And when he was by himself in his small apartment, he didn’t bother setting a table.

Sometimes he ate on his couch while he watched football, but usually he saved time by eating his meals standing in the kitchen as well.

He also wasn’t surprised by the speed with which Laryn ate. Like him, she had a profession where enjoying a leisurely meal was a luxury. They were both done with their sandwiches in minutes .

“That was delicious,” she told him. Then they stood there a little awkwardly before she asked, “You want to sit down?”

Casper nodded, and they headed over to her couch. She sat on one end and he settled into the other.

“So…you came by to check on me. I’m good. How are you ? How’s your brother and Josie doing? Have you talked to them much?”

Casper shouldn’t have been surprised she remembered his brother’s fiancée’s name, and yet he still kind of was. He didn’t even think the two were introduced to each other when they’d been on the naval ship, but she’d obviously found out Josie’s name somehow.

“They’re good. They got engaged.”

“Really? That’s awesome,” Laryn said, pleasure lighting up her features.